Apparatus for activating a heat conductive wire by detecting a rotating angle of a wiper arm

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an apparatus for activating heat conductive wires by detecting a rotating angle of a wiper arm, wherein said heat conductive wires installed on the both side of a wiper blade are activated when the detected rotating angle is smaller than a predetermined angle, so that the accumulated snow is melted away due to the heat emitted from said heat conductive wires.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an apparatus for activating a heat conductive wire installed on a wiper blade, and more particularly, to an apparatus for activating a heat conductive wire installed on a wiper blade by detecting a rotating angle of a wiper arm.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Due to the rapid development of motor vehicle industry, the number of people who possess a vehicle has been gradually increasing. As the result, the average time for drivers to spend in a vehicle has been also increasing in step with the popularization of vehicles. Accordingly, the research and development of a vehicle having various human-oriented facilities has been strongly requested.

[0005] Recently, the devices for a safe driving, such as rearview mirrors and a wiper assembly for removing precipitation and dirt accumulated on a windshield, have been considered as the most important factor in manufacturing and design a vehicle.

[0006] The accompanying FIG. 1 schematically depicts a conventional wiper assembly of a vehicle.

[0007] As shown in FIG. 1, said wiper assembly comprises a wiper arm 4, a wiper body 6, a wiper motor (not shown) for reciprocating said wiper arm 4 wherein one end of which is connected to a crank (not shown) while the other end is connected to the wiper body 6 being formed in an elongated bar shape, and a wiper blade 12 made of a rubber installed on the bottom surface of said wiper body 6.

[0008] Because the removal of dirt and/or precipitation accumulated on a front windshield 8 is actually conducted by said wiper blade 12, said wiper blade 12 is made of a flexible rubber material having a good resilient characteristic and is removably attached on the bottom surface of said wiper body 6.

[0009] In the actual operation of said wiper assembly, it is impossible to completely remove the snow accumulated on the front windshield when there is a heavy snowfall. In particular, there is generated on area 10 where snow cannot be removed both on the right and left edge of the front windshield because the wiper assembly cannot proceed further thereon but only delivers snow to be added.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Considering the above-described demerit of a conventional art, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for actuating heat conductive wires installed on both sides of a wiper blade by detecting a rotating angle of a wiper arm, so that the accumulated snow can be melted due to the heat emitted by said heat conductive wires when the detected rotating angle of a wiper arm is smaller than a predetermined angle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[0011]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional wiper assembly of a vehicle.

[0012]FIG. 2 is a prospective view of a wiper body and a wiper blade having heat conductive wires thereon according to the present invention.

[0013]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the elements of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014]FIG. 4 is a flow chart representing the flow of a signal in the embodiment according to the present invention.  2: wiper assembly  4: wiper arm  6: wiper body  8: front windshield 12: wiper blade 14: heat conductive wire 14a: groove 16: rotating angle detector 18: data storage element 20: controlling element 24: transistor 26: relay switch

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] In order to achieve the above-described object of the present invention, the present invention is provided with an apparatus for activating a heat conductive wire, which is adapted to a wiper assembly comprising a wiper arm, a wiper blade, a wiper body, a crank equipped under the hood of a vehicle for transferring a driving force to the wiper arm, and a wiper motor for reciprocating said wiper arm whose one end is connected to the crank, said apparatus for activating the heat conductive wire comprising:

[0016] a heat conductive wire made of electrical resistant material for outputting heat in response to electric current;

[0017] a wiping angle detector sensing a rotating angle of said wiper arm;

[0018] a data storage element having a level data regarding the rotating angle of said wiper arm;

[0019] a controlling element generating a high-level controlling signal for activating the heat conductive wire when the rotating angle detected by said wiping angle detector is lower than a predetermined angle;

[0020] an electric power supply providing electric current for activating the heat conductive wire;

[0021] a transistor releasing electric current from an emitter to a collector in response to the high-level controlling signal produced by said controlling element;

[0022] and a relay switch being turned on by means of electromotive force induced by electric current released from said transistor,

[0023] whereby said heat conductive wire is eventually activated when said rotating angle of the wiper arm is smaller than the predetermined angle.

[0024] Preferably, said wiping angle detector senses the rotating angle of the wiper arm by means of the electroluminescence/light receiving sensors located on/beneath the surface of the crank which is connected to the wiper arm.

[0025] More preferably, said heat conductive wires are fit into grooves formed along the wiper blade, which tightly contacts with the windshield and is installed on the bottom surface of the wiper body.

[0026] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail referring to the accompanying drawings.

[0027]FIG. 2 is a prospective view of a wiper body 6 and wiper blade 12 having heat conductive wires thereon according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the wiper blade 12 is inserted into a fixing recession 6 a formed on the bottom of the wiper body 6 so as to tightly contact with the windshield and remove dirt and/or precipitation being accumulated on the front windshield.

[0028] Furthermore, a grooves 14 a for containing heat conductive wires 14 are formed on the both sides of said wiper blade 12. Said heat conductive wires are made of electrical resistant material which output heat when electric current passes therethrough. In the present invention, electric current is supplied by the battery of a vehicle (not shown) into said heat conductive wires 14 through the electric wire arranged inside of said wiper arm 4.

[0029] Regarding the location of said grooves 14 a, even though the present invention only discloses the grooves 14 a formed on the both sides of said wiper blade 12, the spirit and scope of the present invention is not restricted by this embodiment. Namely, the location of said grooves 14 a can be selectively changed, if necessary.

[0030]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing elements of the embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a numeric 16 refers to a wiping angle detector sensing the rotating angle of a wiper arm, wherein said wiping angle detector can be embodied by means of conventional electroluminescence/light receiving sensors (not shown) located on/beneath a surface of the crank which is connected to the wiper arm 4.

[0031] Furthermore, a numeric 18 refers to a data storage element having a predetermined rotating angle which is used for determining the activation of a heat conductive wire 14.

[0032] Furthermore, a numeric 20 refers to a controlling element generating a high-level controlling signal so as to activate the heat conductive wire 14 when the rotating angle detected by said wiping angle detector is lower than a predetermined limit.

[0033] Furthermore, a numeric 22 refers to an electric power supply providing electric current for activating the heat conductive wire. The present invention employs the battery of a vehicle as said electric power supply.

[0034] Furthermore, a numeric 24 refers to a transistor releasing electric current from an emitter to a collector in response to the high-level controlling signal produced by said controlling element 20.

[0035] Furthermore, a numeric 26 refers to a relay switch being turned on by means of electromotive force induced by electric current released from said transistor.

[0036] Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for activating a heat conductive wire by detecting the rotating angle of the wiper arm, comprising the above-described elements, will be detailed referring to the accompanying drawings.

[0037]FIG. 4 is a flow chart representing the flow of a signal in the embodiment according to the present invention.

[0038] Initially, the first step (ST-1) to actuate the wiper assembly 2 is activated by driver who perceives the snowfall accumulated on the front windshield 8. In the first step, if the accumulated snow freezes or exceeds a certain limit it is impossible for the wiper assembly 2 to maintain a normal rotating angle thereby.

[0039] Subsequently, the second step (ST-2), which compares the sensed rotating angle of wiper arm with a predetermined angle stored in a data storage element and generates a high-level controlling signal when the sensed rotating angle is smaller than the predetermined angle, is activated.

[0040] Subsequently, the third step (ST-3) comprising following sub-steps is activated. Said sub-steps consist of

[0041] Sub-step 1: a transistor releases electric current from an emitter to a collector in response to said high-level controlling signal generated by said controlling element;

[0042] Sub-step 2: a relay switch is turned on by means of electromotive force induced by electric current released from said transistor; and

[0043] Sub-step 3: finally, the heat conductive wires are activated.

[0044] Eventually, the snow accumulated on the left and right side of the front windshield is melted by heat output from the heat conductive wires installed onto the grooves which are formed on the both sides of the wiper blade, whereby a wide visual-range through the windshield can be secured for a driver.

[0045] On the other hand, in case that the sensed rotating angle is larger than (or same as) the predetermined angle, the controlling element continuously generates a low-level signal, whereby the transistor dose not release electric current to the emitter. Accordingly, the heat conductive wires are maintained in state of non-activated.

[0046] The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for activating a heat conductive wire, which is adapted to a wiper assembly comprising a wiper arm, a wiper body, a wiper blade, a crank equipped under the hood of a vehicle for transferring a driving force to the wiper arm, and a wiper motor for reciprocating said wiper arm whose one end is connected to the crank, said apparatus for activating the heat conductive wire comprising: a heat conductive wire made of electrical resistant material for outputting heat in response to electric current; a wiping angle detector sensing a rotating angle of said wiper arm; a data storage element having a level data regarding the rotating angle of said wiper arm; a controlling element generating a high-level controlling signal for activating the heat conductive wire when the rotating angle detected by said wiping angle detector is lower than a predetermined angle; an electric power supply providing electric current for activating the heat conductive wire; a transistor releasing electric current from an emitter to a collector in response to the high-level controlling signal produced by said controlling element; and a relay switch being turned on by means of electromotive force induced by electric current released from said transistor, whereby said heat conductive wire is eventually activated when said rotating angle of the wiper arm is smaller than the predetermined angle.
 2. The apparatus for activating a heat conductive wire according to the claim 1, wherein said wiping angle detector senses a rotating angle of the wiper arm by means of the electroluminescence/light receiving sensors located on/beneath the surface of the crank which is connected to the wiper arm.
 3. The apparatus for activating a heat conductive wire according to the claim 1, wherein said heat conductive wires are fit into grooves formed along the wiper blade which tightly contacts with the windshield and is installed on the bottom surface of the wiper body. 